uSwitch Mobiles

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 to pack fingerprint technology?

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 could feature a fingerprint scanner, reports suggest, after a patent filing confirmed that the phone-maker is still working on bringing the technology to a future handset.

Samsung was known to be investigating fingerprint scanning as a means of making its phones more secure for some time. Patent filings from last year suggested that it may have originally planned to debut the technology with the Samsung Galaxy S4 or Galaxy Note 2.

However, when those phones hit the market without the security feature on board, evidence that fingerprint technology was still in Samsung’s plans dried up. Until now, that is.

Uncovered by GforGames, a Samsung patent filing registered this year with the US Patent and Trademark Office revealed plans for a fingerprint sensor that could be implanted in phones’ home button. The patent also makes provisions for a swipe sensor that might be located on the side of a phone.

Crucially, according to Samsung, the patented sensor would be sufficiently sensitive to be able to differentiate between a finger attached to an actual human being and a fake finger fashioned from silicon.

Samsung’s plans to bolster security on its handset come as Apple is also believed to be conducting tests of fingerprint tech, raising the dread prospect of yet another vituperative patent battle between the two tech giants in the near future.

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